Patients, hospitals swap poses no issues during Covid-19 pandemic in Nagaland

Our Reporter
Dimapur, April 29 (EMN): Having been declared a Covid-19 hospital, the Naga Hospital Authority of Kohima (NHAK) stopped admitting new patients from March 27. Alternative arrangements were made for the patients who were referred to other medical centres and health establishments.

Things are functioning smoothly, according to officials of some of the hospitals in Kohima that have been designated the alternative for Naga Hospital.  

The managing director of NHAK, Dr. T Katiry, said that right now they do not have records of patients who were referred to other hospitals. Nonetheless, he informed that the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) is for in-patients.

Katiry said if patients are AB-PMJAY beneficiaries, and they go to hospitals that have been ‘empanelled’ in the AB-PMJAY, benefits are provided to them in accordance with guidelines.

The NHAK is admitting only emergency patients 24/7, he said. It is difficult to keep a track record of the patients for now, the official said.

Eastern Mirror also spoke to representatives of Bethel Medical Centre. The representative informed that four patients were referred by NHAK with authorization from the NHAK’s managing director. The source said all four of them have been discharged, adding that two of the patients were enrolled in the AB-PMJAY. The other two were without AB-PMJAY cards, it was informed.

Patients were referred to Bethel Medical Center and there were no difficulties in managing them as there is no shortage of medical workers at the moment, the source said.

KP Bethesda Hospital’s manager, Aseno Sao, said three patients were referred by NHAK. She said one patient needed dialysis, another had a head injury, and the third was for ‘medicine treatment.’

All the three patients had authorisation from the NHAK, Sao said. Two of the patients were AB-PMJAY beneficiaries.

The manager informed that all the medical bills were cleared according to the AB-PMJAY guidelines, and they were discharged from the hospital.

Further, Sao said, they currently do not admit patients other than patients that are in a serious condition or require emergency treatment. Even though the NHAK referred patients to the hospital, it has not affected her establishment’s functioning.

There is also no shortage of medical staff for now, it was informed.

The managing director of Oking Hospital at Kohima, Dr. Vikethonyu Kesiezie, also informed that right now he does not have the exact number of patients referred by the NHAK. The official added that only after the Covid-19 situation is over, he would be able to offer numbers.

Kesiezie also said Oking Hospital is ‘empanelled’ in the AB-PMJAY and it follows the AB-PMJAY guidelines for medical bill clearances.

Before the lockdown was announced, patients in the hospital were very few, Kesiezie said. However, when NHAK was designated a Covid-19 hospital, the number of patients increased. He added there is no shortage of medical staff there currently.

Hospitals empanelled under AB-PMJAY

Home Commissioner Abhijit Sinha has informed through a statement on Wednesday that ‘as per the order of Health department, KOHIMAS and Gynae Institute of Virility and Fertility have been identified for treatment of non-Covid patients referred from Covid-19 hospital (NHAK) for hospitalization and will be empanelled under AB-PMJAY to provide benefits as per guidelines to the beneficiaries’.

The healthcare facilities in Kohima that are already empanelled under AB-PMJAY scheme are Oking Hospital, K.P Bethesda Hospital, Putounuo Nursing Home and Bethel Medical Centre. In Dimapur, Christian Institute of Health Sciences and Research (CIHSR) Eden Medical Centre, Zion Hospital and Research Centre, Nikos Hospital and Research Centre and Nagaland Multispeciality Health and Research Centre are under the scheme so far, the update informed.

It went on to inform that Lenjem Hospital in Mokokchung and Tuensang Polyclinic too have been empanelled under the healthcare scheme while “arrangements have been made in Nyenching Government High School for delivering healthcare by the department” in Longleng. It added that empanelment is under process in the rest of the districts that have private hospitals.